Super Happy Little Girl!

Another fun week with Ava. :) She was 7 weeks yesterday. I love her with all of my heart and so does her daddy! She's our Super Happy Little Girl!










All ready for our friend Stephanie's bridal shower.

Ava

Ava is having fun on her Baby Einstein mat. I will apologize for the horrible camera operating (you'll feel like you are on the water for real...haha) and unfortunately their isn't a mute button for just my voice. :) I tried to make it short but she was just too darn cute! If you start at about 1 minute 25 seconds that is where it starts getting super cute. Enjoy!

6 weeks old!

I am 6 weeks old today!!!!!!!!

How is it possible that my baby is 6 weeks old? She is still proving to be just the sweetest thing ever! She has been sleeping well, eating well, and becomes more and more interactive each day. She is always bright eyed and happy when she wakes up in the mornings, which I love! I always have my phone handy to get some pictures because it snaps faster than my regular camera and it seems to take pretty good pictures. Her little coos and smiles are soooo cute!!!!!!

A Day in the Life of Ava...

I'm sort of copying my friend Heather's blog post. Her little guy Jackson is 3 weeks old!

We'll start with bedtime routine last night. I'm trying to get her on a schedule because I will need it once I go back to school---(which I'm DREADING already). She was going to bed at midnight (yikes) which is fine by me but it won't be come August. So thanks to Kim's advice, I'm getting her bath/bedtime routine done by 10ish and even if she's awake - putting her in her crib. I haven't had to yet really, since she usually falls asleep but typically she'd wake up and be bright eyed until midnight. She would still sleep 5 or so hours but probably not the best schedule. Putting her in her crib is helping and I've tried to get the feedings more routine though with nursing, it's hard.

8:30 pm - Bathtime/laugh and coo with Mommy and Daddy/get lotion and pj's on/Eat

10 pm - asleep in crib

11pm ish - get reswaddled (still asleep but moving around and making noises...TRYING to escape!)

3:00am ish - Eat/diaper change

6am - Time to eat again!

6:30-8:00am - laugh and coo with mommy/get my clothes on for the day

8:00-9:00ish - hang out/nap in the swing

9:30 - have a little snack

10:00am - cry a little/chill in car seat on the way to Kim's pool/sleep

10:15-11:15 - hang out at Kim's/diaper change/eat yet again

11:30-1:00 - lunch at McD's (sleepy time for Ava)

1:30 - get home/snack time!

2:00 - 4:00 - sleep in swing

4:00 - 5:00 - eat/hang out with mommy waiting for daddy to get home from work

5:00 - 6:00 - hang out with daddy while mommy goes to tan--I don't get any sun any other way/cry

6:00 pm - now - sleep in swing

Pretty soon she'll be waking up and it'll be time to eat/hang out/bathtime and then ready to do the same thing all over again! :-)

I'm happy to say that she apparently now likes her swing. She didn't like it much the first few weeks of her life. We tried it a few times but she wasn't too keen.

She has had a few crying 'episodes' but nothing that she can't be calmed down. It's amazing how she can go from so happy one second to TICKED OFF the next. As you can tell from her daily routine, she is often deprived of food to the point of starvation. ha! I think she did have a belly ache one of the times. She hardly ever spits up and after spitting up she was a little fussy. We can't complain though. Her little cry is quite pathetic. She has real tears and even has the saddest little frown. :)

Happy 4th of July!

We had a great time in Chicago! Ava loved it and can't wait to go back!! :)

We drove up on Thursday and checked into our hotel - The Millenium Knickerbocker. It was REALLY nice! Thank you Priceline! The room was pretty small but we managed.



Our friend Jason lives in Chicago so we met up with him and went to eat at The Cheesecake Factory. YUM! Travis even liked it though he didn't get to go to the sushi place. Sorry dear! I'm not 'there' yet with sushi!



Mom and John arrived Friday on the Amtrak and hung out with Ava while we were at the game. :) I officially take TOO many pictures and Travis is officially too tall (or am I too short?). I think I've said this before but it's hard to take vertical pictures of us. Notice his head is usually cut off! (below)

Before we left...Don't you just love Ava's outfit?? And of course, the bow!



Our view from the rooftop...



Some shots from the game...we had a lot of different groups of friends there. We had SOOO much fun!



Happy 4th of July...



We hung out at Kim and Craig's when we got back. Somehow these are the only 3 pics I took--even though I know I just said I officially take too many pictures. hmmmm...

I'm so cute!!!!!!!!

Cousins

Here are the pics from lunch with the cousins. :-) The girls stopped by the house first and we were cracking up at the 3 carseats! So we had to take a picture.

Reddington - Dasani - Ava

The babies and their mommas. :)

Megan - Abi - ME

Megan is married to my cousin though we consider each other cousins and Abi is my cousin. Our other cousin Brock's fiance is also having a baby - due early Sept. Lots of babies in the Bettis fam!

Random...very random

Well, Ava is 5 weeks old today!!! I have been enjoying every minute with her and when I'm sleep deprived I remind myself that soon I'll be at school wishing I was with her. I know I'll enjoy going back to work because I do love my job, but it's going to be hard at first! I can even say I haven't minded doing the housework, keeping the laundry done (giving Trav a break from his 'job' of laundry), and doing housewifey type of things. haha! And really, I can't complain too much in the sleep dept. Since I don't really plan much before 11:00, I can go back to sleep til about 9:00 or so, which I usually do! Last night she slept from midnight to 4:30am and then from 5-8. This was what I was greeted with when I started talking to her in her crib when I went in there. What a sweetie!!!











Yesterday, my Aunt Deb, cousin Abi and her daughter Dasani, and cousin Megan and her son, Reddington came up for lunch. I'll post pics soon! We went to Olive Garden and then did some shopping. Megan had this necklace on from Lisa Leonard online (www.lisaleonardonline.com) and I LOVED it so I just ordered one for me. :) Thanks for the coupon code Meg!!! Mine will say "Our Family Travis Stephanie Ava" I can't wait to get it!

Tonight we are having a date night! My friend Nanci is coming over to babysit. Yay! We're going to see Transformers. Travis has been dying to see it! I liked the first one so I'm sure it'll be good. Then tomorrow I have to finish laundry, pack and prepare for our Chicago trip. We leave Thursday and then have the rooftop Cubs game on Friday!!!!!! It's been planned for MONTHS and I can't wait! Being away from Ava is hard--I have a hard time having fun because I miss her but she'll be with Grandma Holtman in the hotel or out and about in Chi-town. :) Then it's to Kim's pool for the 4th.

Lemonade Stand Pie

This is the YUMMIEST recipe - especially for this hot weather we've been having - (and this is coming from a chocolate lover). I got it from my BFF, Anne.

Lemonade Stand Pie

1/3 c. Country Time Lemonade drink mix
1/2 c. cold water
2 c. vanilla ice cream - softened
1 tub (8 oz) cool whip - thawed
1 Graham Cracker Pie Crust

Place drink mix in bowl. Add water. Stir until dissolved. Add ice cream. Beat with electric mixer on low speed until well blended. Stir in whipped topping. Pour into pie crust. Freeze 4 hours.

Enjoy!!